Personalization - the future of Search
The world of search and search engines is about to move from phase two to phase three, where personalization will be the key. Let's review the first two phases before discussing what personalization means to search and SEO.
Phase 1 – Matching Keywords
Prior to the arrival of the Web and Search Engines, searching through a text-based database usually involved matching up the terms of your query to correlate precisely with how the terms appeared in those database documents.
The web's advent ushered in a complex, interconnected network of pages linked to each other (hyperlinks), and search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo) soon developed an understanding for how words assumed importance relative to their location on the page(s). Indexing words linked to other pages assumed great importance, and links to a particular page were deemed to increase its relative importance. The quantity and quality of links to a page currently helps to define its significance.
A major drawback to this type of keyword matching is that the very same findings were presented to all searchers, despite their identity or their original search goals. Two people looking for something completely different online might get back the same results (i.e. one person is searching for information on "cookies" as they pertain to websites, while the other is looking for details on a type of processed snack consumed by some Sesame Street characters).
Phase 2 – Understanding User Search Behaviour
Engines fine-tuned their approach to search as they developed and offered users more ways to find information (i.e. Website pages). Engines started to develop ways to better ascertain what the searcher was originally looking for: user profiles (i.e. with details on search activity and history); analyses of user actions (i.e. mouse movement, page viewing time, page navigation movements, comparisons of different user web page results); and other user information
(i.e. location, language preferences, type of device employed such as mobile phone or desktop).
There are several other types of user information that search engines have started looking for, including Search Results clicked upon, Ads clicked upon, Types of Email alerts and Personalized Search History. Here is a list of other searcher information sought by various engines (indicated in parentheses):
Phase 3 – Understanding the User (Personalization)
Search engines are already moving towards a new phase, that of Personalization. Data which is culled from how users interact with search and related services is now being complemented with personal information or "footprints" which the user has left on the web. Just consider the user profiles created on engine sites (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, Digg.com) as well as the emerging preponderance of personal blogs (i.e. Technorati). Users can now leave their personal stamp on a seemingly endless number of pages. Even digital signatures associated with user identities
(i.e. OpenID, Typepad) are helping engines to learn more users and their motivations.
How people search, what sites learn about their targeted audiences and gauging the impact of SEO campaigns – all these dynamics are being increased influenced by Personalization. In an effort to offer up personalized search results, the various engines have already shifted their efforts towards understanding the user's real objectives. Google is at the forefront of this shift, treating selected user queries as personalized searches, with past user search history easily referenced.
Website Owners, SEOs and Personalization
Website owners and SEO people should be prepared to ride the Personalization wave, and to identify different methods for learning about their existing customers as well as intended audiences. Finding out more about Social Networking Theory and Online Social Networks also helps reveal personal user information.
SEO practitioners would also do well to employ log file analysis and Web analytics tools, since these are useful devices for relevant measurements of results and conversions. Honesty is also important - SEO people must now come to terms with the declining importance of ranking reports and share this information with their clients.
Phase 1 – Matching Keywords
Prior to the arrival of the Web and Search Engines, searching through a text-based database usually involved matching up the terms of your query to correlate precisely with how the terms appeared in those database documents.
The web's advent ushered in a complex, interconnected network of pages linked to each other (hyperlinks), and search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo) soon developed an understanding for how words assumed importance relative to their location on the page(s). Indexing words linked to other pages assumed great importance, and links to a particular page were deemed to increase its relative importance. The quantity and quality of links to a page currently helps to define its significance.
A major drawback to this type of keyword matching is that the very same findings were presented to all searchers, despite their identity or their original search goals. Two people looking for something completely different online might get back the same results (i.e. one person is searching for information on "cookies" as they pertain to websites, while the other is looking for details on a type of processed snack consumed by some Sesame Street characters).
Phase 2 – Understanding User Search Behaviour
Engines fine-tuned their approach to search as they developed and offered users more ways to find information (i.e. Website pages). Engines started to develop ways to better ascertain what the searcher was originally looking for: user profiles (i.e. with details on search activity and history); analyses of user actions (i.e. mouse movement, page viewing time, page navigation movements, comparisons of different user web page results); and other user information
(i.e. location, language preferences, type of device employed such as mobile phone or desktop).
There are several other types of user information that search engines have started looking for, including Search Results clicked upon, Ads clicked upon, Types of Email alerts and Personalized Search History. Here is a list of other searcher information sought by various engines (indicated in parentheses):
- Annotations (Google Notebook)
- Bookmarked Pages (Delicious, Myweb 2.0, Yahoo)
- Personal Profiles (OPrkut, Myspace)
- Picture Tags (Flickr)
- Queries employed and pages chosen in vertical searches (Google Maps, Yahoo local search, Froogle)
- Query revisions
- Webpages selected for customized engines (Google custom search)
Phase 3 – Understanding the User (Personalization)
Search engines are already moving towards a new phase, that of Personalization. Data which is culled from how users interact with search and related services is now being complemented with personal information or "footprints" which the user has left on the web. Just consider the user profiles created on engine sites (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, Digg.com) as well as the emerging preponderance of personal blogs (i.e. Technorati). Users can now leave their personal stamp on a seemingly endless number of pages. Even digital signatures associated with user identities
(i.e. OpenID, Typepad) are helping engines to learn more users and their motivations.
How people search, what sites learn about their targeted audiences and gauging the impact of SEO campaigns – all these dynamics are being increased influenced by Personalization. In an effort to offer up personalized search results, the various engines have already shifted their efforts towards understanding the user's real objectives. Google is at the forefront of this shift, treating selected user queries as personalized searches, with past user search history easily referenced.
Website Owners, SEOs and Personalization
Website owners and SEO people should be prepared to ride the Personalization wave, and to identify different methods for learning about their existing customers as well as intended audiences. Finding out more about Social Networking Theory and Online Social Networks also helps reveal personal user information.
SEO practitioners would also do well to employ log file analysis and Web analytics tools, since these are useful devices for relevant measurements of results and conversions. Honesty is also important - SEO people must now come to terms with the declining importance of ranking reports and share this information with their clients.
